Oliver "Ollie" W. Press (September 10, 1952 – September 29, 2017) was an American cancer researcher and physician. Press was best known for his contributions to the development of targeted cancer therapies for blood cancers.[1][2][3]
Oliver Press | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 10, 1952 St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Died | September 29, 2017 (aged 65) |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (BS, 1973) University of Washington (PhD,1977) University of Washington School of Medicine (MD,1979) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center University of Washington |
Biography
editPress was born in St. Louis, Missouri.[2][4][5] Press described being passionate about zoology as a child, and frequently captured snakes and frogs from the parks near his home.[6][4] After majoring in biology at Stanford University, Press decided to study medicine, both as a means to apply the study of biology to help people and as a means to secure draft deferment from the Vietnam War.[5] Press earned both a medical doctorate and PhD through the University of Washington Medical Scientist Training Program.[7] Press completed internship and residency at Mass General Hospital in 1982 before returning to the University of Washington to serve as chief resident and pursue a fellowship in oncology.[7] In 1986, he joined as faculty at the University of Washington, where he eventually became a professor of medicine and adjunct professor of bioengineering, and as a member of the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center.[8]
Press met his future wife, Nancy, through a study-abroad program as an undergraduate.[4][5] Nancy worked in Press's lab and oversaw administrative work throughout his career.[4][5]
Career
editPress conducted translational research to develop more effective therapies for lymphoma.[6] Press pioneered the use of anti-CD20 antibodies as a monoclonal antibody therapy for lymphoma.[9][5][10] He was instrumental in the subsequent development of lymphoma radioimmunotherapy and the eventual FDA approval of Ibritumomab tiuxetan.[4][8] Throughout his career, Press continued to advance and refine such therapies in order to increase their clinical usage, including the early application of CAR T cells for the treatment of lymphoma.[4][5][1][11]
In addition to his clinical service and research achievements, Press was well-regarded as a mentor. He directly trained more than 70 physicians and scientists over the course of his career, and served as associate director of the University of Washington Medical Scientist Training program from 2014-2017.[1][6][7][12]
Awards
edit- Oliver W. Press Distinguished MSTP Alumnus Award
- Research Visionary Champion Award from the Washington/Alaska chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Gold Award for Achievement in Medical Research from Seattle Business Magazine; and several awards from the Lymphoma Research Foundation, including the organization's
- Distinguished Service Award, Lymphoma Research Foundation
- SAAS Foundation for Medical Research's John Ultmann Award for Contributions to Lymphoma Research (posthumous)
- American Society of Hematology's 2017 Mentor Award (posthumous)
- Excellence in Mentorship Award, UW Department of Medicine
References
edit- ^ a b c "Mourning the loss of Dr. Oliver 'Ollie' Press".
- ^ a b "Oliver W. Press". American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ "Lymphoma Research Foundation Statement On the Passing of Dr. Oliver Press". Lymphoma Research Foundation. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Piana, Ronald (25 October 2017). "Leading Lymphoma Clinician, Researcher, and Mentor, Oliver 'Ollie' Press, MD, PhD, Dies at 65". The ASCO Post. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "'He transformed my life': A cancer doctor's work comes full circle".
- ^ a b c Pagel, John M. (2018). "Oliver W. Press, MD, PhD (1952-2017)". The Hematologist. 15. doi:10.1182/hem.V15.1.8192.
- ^ a b c "Remembering Ollie Press | Department of Medicine News". mednews.uw.edu. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "Mourning the Loss of Dr. Oliver 'Ollie' Press". OncLive. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Press, O. W.; Appelbaum, F.; Ledbetter, J. A.; Martin, P. J.; Zarling, J.; Kidd, P.; Thomas, E. D. (February 1987). "Monoclonal antibody 1F5 (anti-CD20) serotherapy of human B cell lymphomas". Blood. 69 (2): 584–591. doi:10.1182/blood.V69.2.584.584. ISSN 0006-4971. PMID 3492224.
- ^ a b "Oliver W. Press". American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Retrieved 26 February 2024.
- ^ Rufener, Gregory A.; Press, Oliver W.; Olsen, Philip; Lee, Sang Yun; Jensen, Michael C.; Gopal, Ajay K.; Pender, Barbara; Budde, Lihua E.; Rossow, Jeffrey K.; Green, Damian J.; Maloney, David G.; Riddell, Stanley R.; Till, Brian G. (June 2016). "Preserved Activity of CD20-Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Expressing T Cells in the Presence of Rituximab". Cancer Immunology Research. 4 (6): 509–519. doi:10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-15-0276. ISSN 2326-6074. PMC 4891234. PMID 27197068.
- ^ "Letter From the Editor: In Memory of Oliver Press, MD, PhD". hematologyandoncology.net. Retrieved 24 February 2024.